Leif and Steve do a spoiler free after watch of the OG Gossip Girl.

This week the guys break down Season 1, episode 2 titled The Wild Brunch.

In the wake of the scandalous Kiss on the Lips party, Serena receives an icy cold reception from Blair

Produced by Leif Capicola and Steve Marchion. Edited and mixed by Leif Capicola.

The Gossip Girl Theme Performed By Steve Marchion

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Hey up reciters, non-judging breakfast pod here. You're one and only sourcing to the scandalous

lives of the Manhattan elite. Who am I? Well, my name is Leaf and I've been watching this show since

its original run. But I'm not alone, with me is my co-host fellow brunch enthusiast, Steve. And I'm

taking in the gossip for the first time. We're going to be working our way through the iconic

2000s TV series Gossip Girl, one take at a time. We will be dissecting each piece of juicy gossip and

analyzing storylines, all while admiring and sometimes mocking the fabulous fashion, devious

schemes and petty rivalries. Alright Steve, this week we are tackling the second episode of season

one, The Wild Brunch. And do you know what this title is referenced to? Yeah, I'm assuming The

Wild Brunch, which is a film that I don't believe I've seen, but I've heard of. You are correct, it is

a 1969 Western. Don't really know any of the actors, they're old. Like I recognize the one guy,

but he's probably much younger, Ernest Borghain. Oh, Ernest Borghain, yeah, yeah. Which Ernest

Borghain was the guy getting hired to be the old guy in movies by the time I was in the movies. Exactly.

I'm sure he was much younger in this movie. Yeah, yeah, I imagine that in the 60s. I imagine in the

decades prior to my birth. Anyway, so this episode was written by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage

and once again directed by our friend Mark Piznarski. The episode summary is in the wake of a

scandalous kiss on the lips party, Serena receives an icy cold reception from Blair. The

original air date was September 25, 2007. You know what you're doing on September 25, 2007.

September 25, 2007, I had just started a promotion. My daughter was an infant and I was had

just become and it was like I was an assistant principal of the school, but they didn't want to

pay me like an assistant principal. So they called me an academic coordinator and then promoted me to

be a site administrator. Definitely not a principal. But yeah, I mean that was and I was

working out of South Philly High, not for South Philly High, but our program was stationed in

South Philly High. And yeah, I was cutting my teeth and a brand new job trying to learn how to be an

administrator. And I discovered I didn't like it. I discovered I didn't like being the boss at the

school. I was also I was also about to turn 30 and the youngest person on staff. So it was weird to be the

boss to a bunch of people that were eight to 15 years older than me. So at that time, I had just dropped

out of college. I was not doing much at all, except for probably watching bad TV. But I had not yet

discovered Gossip Girl. Still a couple of years to come. Yeah. Yeah, I had heard about it. And there

was another show around the time that I was into and I was trying to think of this the other day. And it

made me think like, oh, I'd probably really like Gossip Girl, but then I never. So I think I know what

show you probably were watching because I also watched it and it was Smallville. Yes. And Gossip

Girl was on the first was like the flagship show of this switch over to the CW when the UPN and WB

emerged. And Smallville came over. So there was lots of advertisements for Gossip Girl while

watching Smallville. Although well, hold on. But here's the thing. I was probably off of Smallville

by then because I was into Smallville for three seasons. And season three, I was really excited

because I thought it really started to take off. And then after that, I just I thought they were

getting away from the. Like, hey, who are we hanging out with this week so that we can just like

take care of him now because that new person that we're going to introduce in the opening credits is

our villain this week. Like I got really tired of that. And when Jeff Loeb came on and was as a

producer, I felt like it really started to take a more storyline approach and a more, you know,

serial approach. And then. And then it just didn't. And also, like Lana. By the time I was done

watching the show, Lana should already have had. Severe brain trauma from the amount of times that

not only she was concussed, but just otherwise. Given amnesia. She should. She should. Barely be a

functioning human being. Which I guess she did go into coma a couple times, but. Sure. Eventually.

But yeah, so she did stay on a little too long, but you know, just quick off topic. It was mainly, you

know, behind the scenes behind the scenes reasons because the WB was not allowed to use lowest lane

and more than a certain amount of episodes. And so she was reserved for the movie side of things and

there's all these back scene politics going on. But that's for another podcast. Yeah. Anyways, I

will read the episode description or summary here. We got. The truth is out. Serena tries to make

up with Blair until she reveals that she knows what happened between Serena and Nate. Nate makes an

attempt to talk to Serena only to find to run into Dan. Jenny hopes to find out if Chuck is spreading

rumors which leads her to Blair's house. Nevertheless, all the result by brunch, complete

with champagne, a jest code and 100 of their closest friends. Or will it? Serena and Dan are

shunned by Blair and her crew. Chuck tries to convince Blair to finish it with Nate. Serena and

Nate finally sit down and talk. However, why is Serena heading up to Chuck's suite and why is Lily

Vanderwoodson sneaky around with Bart Bass? My God, I can't wait till we get into that scene.

Alright, well, we'll go right into it here. So this week instead of the normal cold open the Gospel

girl has, they did some long two and a half minute recap, which is kind of strange. That's a one off

and done though. I feel like it's a very pilot thing, you know, where you're like, you know, we

went in the era where you're still having to catch people week by week and you have to like catch them

up. Anyone that tuned in for week one that didn't tune that turn in for week two that didn't turn in

for week one, you know, okay, we really need to get him caught up. Well, the thing is that they do like

you're watching on TV. They did do recaps. Yeah, I mean, they did. And yeah, I'm not saying it isn't

it's just it was an odd choice and it never came back. So well, much like at the beginning of the

cold open, not well, non cold open in this one where they do the flashes of the episode, which I know we

talk about. We will talk about. All right. So anyways, like, we hop right into Act one, we get

some NYC established shots with gas and girl monologue montage of brunch prep. Yeah, I think

you actually might actually get our first glimpse of the statues in that prep. And it's like, wait,

was that a and then it's just like a quick flash. Yeah, it made me hungry, at least. Yeah, right.

Yeah, and the food prep just like that giant huge salmon. Yeah, it just although yeah, that that's

Robin's thing I can't I can't do. I don't enjoy the salmon the way Robin does. But like us Jews like our

our smear and little little slocks and some white fish. Yeah, yeah, she yeah, she early on in our

relationship. She introduced me to it and I was like, I gave it a shot. I was I gave it an open mind. I

don't like fish for breakfast. Moving to the Brooklyn loft, we see a neat garage door open

between Dan and Jenny's bedrooms. Sweet scene of Dan checking in on Jenny after the incident with

Chuck. Jenny Starks back about Dan's awkward wave at the end of the last night's date. Yeah, which was

fantastic. The you know, the end of that date was was fantastic and like the wave. And so when they

the interaction between Dan and Jenny is just fantastic. I love their brother and sister

dynamic. Yeah, they they have they have the best relationship on the show right now. The most

honest, the most loving and caring relationship. And yes, it's a brother sister relationship. But

like they're just, you know, the way he checks in on her and the way that she you know, is beating

herself up. Like, man, I kind of knowing this guy has a reputation. I'm actually going to disagree a

little bit because we actually get the direct parallel with Serena and Eric in the next scene.

Okay, that's that's you know what? That's very fair. And the reason that it the at this point, that

we have not seen them as much because you see the Dan and Jenny relation. And so we have had a

relationship more in the first episode and more in this episode later on if I remember correctly.

Yes, but like I think in the pilot we get the fact that Serena self exiled for what happened to the

chef for wedding. But the reason why she was willing to come back is because of her brother.

Right. Yeah. And we yeah, we really get that impression from her and and yes, they definitely

do have that relationship too. Which you know, they they it's really how you hope siblings are,

you know, it's And then we get the flashback to the wave. We see Serena get out of the cab. The cab

starts to leave but Dan stops the cab. He slams into the sea and then he looks out. He gives a little like

awkward wave and she's like, what the fuck are you doing, dude? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And then and then it

just drives off. It was that whole that whole setup. I mean, starting with slamming the door on

his head like like go get her. Okay. Boom. And like it was every moment of it is just choreographed

perfectly. Yes. And then so we're at the house hotel. We see the direct parallel with Serena

Eric. They're recapping the now infamous wave. Yeah. Yeah. And again, just really great. Just one

of like that. Super awkward. You know, oh my God, I've ruined this forever feeling as as he pulls

away. Yeah, just. But as we see Serena is obviously still interested in she thinks that we cut from

that wave that she thinks Dan might not be interested. Yeah. Yeah. And so both of them are,

you know, feeling the same way 100%. They're both really into the other person and the other person

isn't into them, which it really is. Oh, yeah, the classic. Yeah. And then so we go from there. Jenny

convinces Dan to go for a second shot with Serena, but he couldn't. He should shower and change

first. Yeah. Which is, you know, he just got upset. Probably wants to, you know, get a shower first

and. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And we get, we move to Blair's with her minions at the Waldorf

penthouse. Blair makes several snarky comments to them about Serena shouldn't dare to show up at

today's big brunch. Yeah. And I also, I will take the opportunity here to mention that Blair had a

huge grammatical faux pas that I can't turn the English teacher off. And Blair actually uses the

word whom incorrectly. Um, she says, uh, my boyfriend, who my love and who loves me, she's

using whom when it should be who because it's a nominative case that is referring back to the

boyfriend. So it's like naming something. So he is the subject of that clause of the sentence. Well,

let's make sure we leave that off of Yale's Blair. Blair's Yale application. Unfortunately, this

is starting a theme in the episode that I don't really like that goes through throughout the

episode and, you know, throughout the series and the show is that Serena is blamed for what happened

to Shepard Way, but Nate is not. Yes, that, that got me even in the pilot when they're sitting down to

dinner and he's like, I'll never talk to her again. And it's like, okay, I'm like, and it, and there is

that piece of it that it's like Blair taking the power dynamic and, and recognizing like, okay,

this is the, the, we're the power couple. So I have to let him go. But it is like, he just pretty much

gets off scot-free for like being the one who cheated, you know, he's the one that did the

greater wrong. He's the one that was in the relationship that was committed and not supposed

to do that, you know, like granted. It's grimy to sleep with your best friends, with your best

friends, with your best friends partner. It's like, it's grimy to be the partner. I think they're

equally culpable. Yeah, yeah. And they both, yeah. And, and you're, and Nate gets off

scot-free. Anyway, so at the end of the scene, Blair calls Nate and that leads right into the next

scene where Nate wakes up after a bender. He is at Chuck's suite and the sound of a phone call from

Blair wakes him up. Chuck wakes up in a bed with two women and a black guy. Both are clearly hungover.

As the women leave, we learn that they are employees at Chuck's father's hotel. Yeah. So he

is sleeping with employees and he says he'll let his father know that they did a good job. Chuck's

still a creep. He is still a creep. There's also mentioned in that where once again, he doesn't

know who dad, he's like, I knew who that guy was. If I knew his name, I'd go find him. I knew who that guy

was playing off of the whole, like they rode the bus together. He's like, why are you following us? So

it is like that recurring thing. And then Nate kind of chokes. What are you going to do, Chuck with your

scarf? Yeah. Obviously Chuck is not going to be beating up anyone. Yeah. He's a bit posh for that.

Chuck wants to sound tough. All right. So back at the loft, Dan is spruced up. We get a whirlwind of

dialogue where Dan once again checks in on Jenny's mental state before heading off this fine arena.

However, Jenny quickly hops up and says, wait, there's something I want to talk to. Rufus arrives

back to the loft as both his children are leaving. Rufus alone with his sad waffles. Yeah. You know,

just dadding his heart out. You know, just like always trying to be super dad in these situations

and the poor fucking guy just like, it's good to like, yeah, we get it. And then like it speaks to me

as, as a dad. And as a dad who I feel has a good relationship with my kids, only I, you know, I'm

the parent who didn't always, I didn't have to full time parent when it was the toughest time. Except

for in the summer, you know, but, but like it does speak to that like now having teenagers and it's

like, hey, you want to come down and visit? Like, yeah, I can't wait to see you and my kids will come

down. They'll hang out with me, but my daughter comes down and hangs out and she also is going out

with friends and like, you know, which I love that she does. And I love that she has friends down here,

but there are, but it is a lot of times like. Like I get like it just speaks to that. Yes. So we get a

quick shot of Nate. He's in Beckinswee. He's trying to track down Serena's room number using

Chexpool as, you know, the son of the hotel owner. So that's just a quick shot, but we can see it. Yeah.

Yeah. So he's clearly still interested in Serena. And then we see Blair deleting a missed call from

Serena back at the, she's back at the penthouse. Then a weird montage showing what we learn are

glimpses of later in the episode. Is this the news teasing the top story into the final segment?

Yeah, it was, it was really, it was an interesting choice. You know, it was, and my thought is, is this

going to be a thing? Like, is this just something that they do? And on the one hand, it did have a feel

of like more like old timey dramas that would sometimes be like, or, and also it's funny because

now it kind of mirrors reality TV. You know, if you watch something like, if you watch something like

90 day fiance, and if you're forced to watch something like 90 day fiance, because it's on

while your wife is watching it and you don't turn it off. And, and you start getting into it because you

watch it too much. But like, you see the same scene 20 times before it actually plays out. You,

they're constantly like, you know, the beginning of the episode, this is all the stuff we're going to

show you today. And then they're like constantly showing you previews of what's going to happen

later in the same episode, you know. But yeah, it was an interesting choice. Yes, it went in like the

extended recap, it never comes back. All right. And we are back from commercial and act two begins

with Serena and Lily are arguing at their suite at the palace. And Lily wants Serena to go to

breakfast. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Her insistence on on going to this brunch and like the

just dire need for it. It's like, lady, like your kid wants to skip brunch. And, and, and like, where

I'm sorry Serena pointing out the hypocrisy of like, like, oh, you can't just hide away from your

problems. Like you are literally hiding my brother away. Yes. Very big on public image. Yeah.

Yeah. Obsessed with it and like, and yeah, we'll, and we'll get to more later on that. And we got a

quick shot of Serena leaving that hotel just as Dan is arriving. They kind of miss each other. So that

doesn't miss the opportunity. And then we get Dan approaching the same doorman from last weekend.

He surprised that the doorman is still kind of treating him hostily. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And

but clearly that doorman has no care for. I mean, to be fair, he takes his job seriously to be fair.

Dan's from Brooklyn. He is addressed rather shabbily. Yeah. I mean, yeah, I mean, he is a little

out of place. And then we see, we see Lily coming down to the lobby. She meets Nate or she seems very

fond of him, but Lily is not nearly as happy to see Dan. We see some uncomfortable vies between Dan

and Nate as they are forced to wait together. Yeah. And there's even that, there's a conversation. I

can't remember if it has already happened or if it is going to happen with Lily and Serena, where she

talks about like, you know, they wouldn't be too bad a catch, you know, like, like kind of indicates

that, man, I wish that you weren't already with Blair, because like I would. Oh, the conversation

is that I kind of think Serena has always had a bit of a crush on you, Nate. Yeah. Yeah. Which thank God

Serena is not here because, yeah. Mom. Yeah. That is the line and like, and it just says so much about

Lily and how much Lily, it shows you also that Lily is not just, that the parents aren't just

observers, that they are, that they think that they're the players in this game. Like the parents

think that their kids are going to, are part of their social ladder, you know, and get. And as

we'll see later on in the series, I think it's kind of the, just the chain that passed down through the

generations. Yeah. Yeah. And so, we also, so, we get the, Dan and Nate together, it's very awkward,

you know, two obvious reasons, you know, one, they're waiting for the say girl, and two, also,

Dan did punch Nate's best friend last night. Yeah. Yeah. And also, give it to Nate that he wasn't

hostile, you know, it was awkward, but he wasn't, but it was like, he wasn't, he wasn't rude, he

wasn't hostile, and it almost shows you like, sometimes jokes got to get punched. Like, like

part of being friends with Chuck is, yeah, I kind of got to be grumpy at people because they punch him,

those people are going to punch it. I think he says later in the episode, you know, he punched the

guy's sister, he went after the guy's sister, what do you expect? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He specifically,

yeah, he calls him out on that. Yeah. All right. So then we go to Serena arriving at the Blair's

penthouse to try to mend fences with Blair and figures out Blair's, and with Blair as man-eater

this time. Blair reveals that she knows about the Nate and Serena of it all. We get to find the big,

everyone now knows. Yeah. Yeah. It is all out. Yeah. Well, of course, except for Willie.

Because, but like, but like that's important because of everything else that comes from Willie

later, you know, but, but yeah, and, and yeah, it, it, it's all out. It's all out and everybody,

everybody knows end of act. Yeah. The seps is there. There's a quick act to this, so we're just

going to go right into act three. Jenny arrives at Blair's penthouse. Jenny is fishing for info to

see if Chuck has been talking about her. Once again, it is applied from Blair's comments that

sexual assault is a regular thing with Chuck. Yeah. And, and, and the line was Blair's line was

Chuck. So it was late. Crows get his conquest, but not his victims. And it's like, oh my God, like it

just, it just made every part of me just fucking see. And because it, but it's like that, that is

once again, when we talk about like knowing those people back in an hour, like an hour, you that it's

like, fuck, like you don't even know. The shit that they, that they were doing, you know, like there's

more, there's more to Chuck that we don't know, you know, like, and there's the stuff that he doesn't

tell his friends. Like this is just the stuff that people know about is really, really creepy.

Anyways, we move on to the next scene. Lily meets Rufus on the streets in Brooklyn. Lily is unhappy

about Dan and Serena dating. We get more angry flirting between the pair when Lily says Serena

doesn't need any new distractions right now. Rufus points out that Dan might just be a good

influence for Serena. That, that line was great. Like I, I think maybe Dan is exactly what Serena

needs. And, and Dan's a good kid. Yeah. Yeah. And Dan isn't caught up in all of the bullshit and Dan

isn't going to. You thought I'd, I'd trick you at bars every night. Yeah. Yeah. Like every other kid

in your life. Yeah. Like the people you want your kid hanging out with, like you want your kid

involved in this scene that at surface level starts with getting them. Hooked on booze at 16.

You don't know at 14. Yeah. And because the other thing is, is that in, in episode one, none of these

kids are strangers to drinking. Yeah. You know, like can they all hold their liquor all the time?

No. But are any of them strangers to drinking? No. Like it is, there's a familiarity to it. It is

casual from the start. So then we see Dan and Nate clumsily talk about Serena outside the Palace

Hotel. Chuck arrives and sparks fly between him and Dan. Dan, the nervous and every other aspect is

oddly confident with Chuck though. Yeah. Yeah. Well, the thing is, what are the things that really

make him nervous? Social situations, right? But what's the one thing that never makes him nervous,

Jenny? You know, and, and, you know, when it comes to her, it's like, yep, everything else is shut

off. You know, I, you know, I will stand, I will stand my ground with this guy and, and again, it's

about Dan not. Excuse me about Dan not giving a shit about all of the pomp and all of the social scene.

Like I don't give a shit that you own this hotel. I like none of that means anything to me, you know,

and you're just a fucking creep who I'm, you know, it's again a lot about Dan's character, you know.

Yes, I agree. And we see Jenny is helping Blair get dressed back at the penthouse. Jenny comments

about Blair and Dan both having cabbage patch kids put a fit in this. Jenny once again plays the game

and is rewarded with a custom Eleanor Waldorf dress. Um, and, and the thing is that dress is not a

dress, no strings attached. Blair says, I'm sure you'll find a way to pay me. And whether or not a

specific situation comes up that refers to that dress, I don't know and can't remember if it, if it

did, or if it just drops off the face of the earth and we never hear about it again. Either way, it

establishes that friendship with Blair is transaction. You know, like I'm like, there is a

power game there at all times. We see Blair immediately perk up when she mentions Dan, her

brother is the one that was with Serena. Yeah, so yeah, I got it in there. So that's when she was she

she can, you know, not use Jenny. And we do find out so that the in the end of the episode, skipping

ahead a little bit in the gossip girl monologue, they mentioned how a, you know, player or an

Eleanor Waldorf original is, you know, a sign that you're one of players. It's right then. It is right

then when she gives her the dress. I thought that was at the end. No, she actually says right when she

gives her the dress. She says she gets she says like and it is the staple uniform of anyone in the of

Blair's like army or something like that. It is actually like a star or well, at the end is the Star

Wars reference. So like Serena's Rebels or players, you know, and oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

yeah. I but the other the other moment there with, you know, with the giving of the dress. Oh, shit.

And there it is. And that's going to remind me that this episode is brought to you by Strawberry

Guava. If you haven't, if you haven't done a dab of Strawberry Guava, I recommend it. Very tasty and

gets the job done. Yeah. And helps with the relief in the back and also but at times does a little bit of

gives might make you touch spacey at times. But overall highly recommended. It's really, you

know, really, really brought really made this show possible today. Anyways, back to Gospel girl

Dan is still outside the hotel appears sometime has passed when Serena shows up. Dan goes back to

being nervous, but still managed to land another D Lily arise and ropes the pair into brunch. Yeah.

And and Dan and Serena meeting back up and recognizing that they're both just that they had

an awkward end to a night tour to a pretty messed up night. And yeah, what happened? Yeah. Oh, yeah,

what happened? And they and and, you know, Dan kind of thought he shot his shot. And that was that. And

then when he so so seeing them reconnect like that, it was a very cute scene. And also, you know, at this

point when Lily shows up and is insistent. Once again, insistent on them going to brunch on Serena

going to the brunch and how she has to go. It's early when we said it's all out. Everybody knows, you

know, Lily didn't know and Lily doesn't care that her daughter is sitting there saying this is not

the one you want me to go to. This is not the reintroduction you want it to be. But so we do have

everyone all the principal characters in one place. So that that makes for good television.

Yeah, that works out inside the palace. Dan gawks at Bart Bass's brunch spread. It's opulent. Be

like, God, anything has he has ever experienced the whole gang is here. Yeah, um, I'm getting food

and then talking to the statue and then you really, that's when like, you have other glimpses of them

throughout the show by this point, but this is when you actually, for the first time, like, they're

treated like a person when Dan is like, hey, how are you? Like, tries to like talk to them is like, okay,

I, I, and like, just shows how out of place Dan feels where everybody else there, it just didn't seem to

phase them. Although they are brought up later, Chuck brings them up. Yes. Um, and I do like the same

joke that's used in year one with Michael Sarah. I don't know if you've seen that. I have not seen.

Okay. Yes. Same concept. You get human statues and he walks up and tries to talk to them very awkwardly

in a Michael Sarah fashion. Yeah. Yeah. And so also in the sea, we do get one of, I think, three uses of a

Rihanna show up in a scene back at the law. Jenny and Rufus are talking about dresses. You know, she's

showing the dress that Blair gave her. Jenny finds a way to Rufus' heart and by asking him to go to the

Farmer's Market. Yeah. Yeah. And they're sweet. You know, I do love the, that, again, the, the, one

of the better parent relationships with the kids as well. You know, like, sometimes maybe a little

overwritten as like the hero dad, but like, whereas like the good dad, but like, you know, it's

just really well done. So I, it was obviously sweet, but I also got a sense that Jenny was almost

manipulating this little bit. Sure. Don't think Rufus doesn't know it. Okay. You know, like, now

that, that could be my relationship with my kids. But my kids enjoy my company and my kids love doing

stuff with me. And also my kids sometimes, I no longer think of it as manipulation, right? Like,

and also my kids don't really have to manipulate me at this point, because it's like, Hey, I want to

come visit you and do this thing. I also want to go do this with my friends. You know, like my daughter

will be like, Oh yeah, we got to come down and watch horror movies or Buffy, but then I'm also going out

with friends. And like, there is a level of like manipulation. But it's also because my kids know

they can come to me with that kind of stuff. And I'm like, go ahead and manipulate me. You want to

manipulate me by going and spending time with me doing something we both love. I'll manipulate me.

Do it. If that makes sense. Yeah, yeah. Anyway, back at brunch, Nate signals to Serena to have a

private conversation and Dan makes a class warfare joke. What does he previous mention

talking to the human sculpture? Yeah, okay, I thought that that happened earlier. But yeah,

it's just the first person to humanize the sculptures, you know, it's and it was and it's

uncomfortable and off putting and and just like I said, the way everyone else, that's when you also

realize that no one else is even paying attention to them. Like you could have statues. Like you

could not have I don't know if you caught at the end of the episode that Chuck was, you know, lounging

with one of them. Oh yeah, I thought it was more than one actually. I could be, I could have projected

that for some reason I thought that it was like him and like, well, it's definitely two girls at the

beginning of the episode. I'm not sure if it was more than one. Yeah, I yeah, but I do remember like

waking up with one or lounging with one. Yeah, I did make note of that in my head. Yeah. All right. And

then we are introduced to Bart Bass who's writing Chuck pretty hard. Do we feel bad for Chuck at all?

No, not yet. I mean, I mean, Chuck's, Chuck's dad sucks, right? All their parents suck. Like even

Chuck's dad, of all the ways that the parents suck, Chuck's dad is, you know, put away the scotch. It's

not even noon yet. Like, well, not before noon. Afternoon signs. Right, right. But the fact that

he is the first, the only person to tell Chuck to not do something, something, you know, to curb your

behavior at all. Yeah. Yeah, other than dad punching him. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And like, and

so like, I actually hated his dad at his parenting a little tiny bit less than everybody else's

because I didn't feel like it was as railroady because I feel like Chuck really likes the life

that his dad is setting up for him. So far, that is my impression of Chuck, you know, I think this is what

Chuck, Chuck is not in a situation, you know, Chuck doesn't want to go follow his own path

necessarily. I think Chuck wants to more Billy Madison his way through the hotel industry, you

know, but, you know, but like, I do think that like, that interaction isn't as, you know, I understand

a dad being frustrated with your kid showing up to the brunch that you're throwing so that he can

socialize. And he shows up with a black eye, because he was doing something fucked up. You can

only imagine he's the reason. And then there's also you all flashed, you can all take that back to,

yeah, his dad obviously lets him get away with all this shit too. And his dad is probably a big, you

know, as as some accountability and Chuck just being the fucking creepy is. So I mean, this is it.

Like he did raise, he did raise a sexual predator. Yes. So like, and, you know, why, where would that

come from has statues that are and like even Chuck like calls him out for having half naked statues at

this party. Well, the same one too. Like, they both slept in the same statue. Oh, well, hopefully not

at the same time. But wait, so, so their father, son, Eskimo brothers. Yes. It's highly likely

possibility that they are father, son, Eskimo. At least after this. We see Chuck like mocking him

about it in this first scene, and that he's he ends up with her at the end. So definitely some edible

stuff going on there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we still have not had much about Chuck's mom outside

of one reference in the pilot, correct? So I I I at this time, we're still assuming she's here. Yeah.

Yeah, we're we're in she's in the picture somewhere. But like, we just don't know anything

about her. But she's not attending these affairs and seems to be intentionally hidden from us. You

know, but yes. And she is apparent that there is an absence felt. They all have them, right? Do they

all have a parent who we haven't seen? Serena's dad. We haven't seen Serena's dad. We haven't seen

Danny and Jenny's mom. We haven't seen we've got mentions of the mom now of Danny and Jenny's mom.

We've got mentions of Blair's dad, but we haven't seen Blair's dad. We haven't seen Nate's mom.

Correct. Have we? Have we seen her and not interacted with her or seen her? But briefly, hard

for me to say because I've seen the show so many times. I don't feel an absence from Nate's mom,

though the way I do from every other character, Chuck's mom. I guess that's all of them, right?

Yeah. So then we have a mate in a quiet hallway, who is this Serena to meet him in Chuck's suite. He

gives her the key. So they're going to meet up and discuss, you know. You're a good idea, Nate. And

then we see Blair and the captain who is Nate's dad chatting. And then Nate comes up and leaves with

his dad. This is awkward conversation. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And once again, you just, because is

this where his dad's like trying to set him up with internships? Yeah. As they walk away, he enters

into some guy. Yeah. And there's... Lucky, Lucky, it's some big company. But yeah, but it's once

again the push of like, you know... But the conversation between, that we kind of jump in on

between Blair and the captain of like, oh, your relationship is so good with my son, blah, blah,

blah. It's like, so weird. Yeah. They're in high school, dude. And then they, and like he talks to

Nate about it. He's like, you work it all out. And it's like, man, like, you are just too involved.

Taking care of business. He literally calls it business. Yeah. He calls it business. He does. Oh,

like, God, this is like, it's your kid. So messed up. Yeah. Like... And so Chuck and Blair are

talking about Serena being at the brunch and Chuck tells Blair, you know, she needs to seal the deal

with Nate because he definitely hints that he knows about, you know, Serena and Nate. Yeah.

Yeah. And she's like, you knew. And he's, doesn't he say like, I know everything or something like

that? Yes. Yeah. He does indeed say... Actually, that's later. But yes, that's what, that's at the

big, the big competition. And what he's interesting that a show about gossip has a

character that says they know everything. So we, yeah. So Blair, he gives Blair the key to the suite

and sends her up there. Do we think that Chuck knew that Serena was waiting up there already? Or was it

just coincidence? Chuck likes conflict. Chuck likes chaos. Chuck knows Nate has a key to the room.

And there's no, there is nothing that indicates that Chuck would know other than just Chuck, other

than just getting that suspicion of like, is he setting this up? And also like, you know, he wants

to, he wants payback for Serena, you know, refue, you know, for Serena having autonomy over her own

body. So I think we're kind of just left the wonder that there's never really confirmed an eye to

Finda or not. Yeah. Yeah. And, but like, there's that part of me that questioned the same thing in

it. And seems like something he would do. Yeah. Definitely. Yeah. Definitely fits with his

character. Yeah. So speaking of which, Nate and Blair are making out when they burst in on Serena.

Blair and Serena argue, quips fly and Blair runs off to tell Dan about the Nate and Serena of it all.

Yeah. Yeah. And, and it's so funny because like, personally, like when she's like, I'm going to go

tell him. And like, if somebody came up to me, well, I guess it's more, that's more of the next scene,

but like if someone came up to me and was like, last year, before you knew any of us, she slept with my

boyfriend. I'd be like, huh? Got it. So, yeah. So, I mean, a lot of people like to blame Dan and say it's

slut shaming, but I don't think that was the issue. I think it was more the issue that she's someone

that would sleep with her best friend's boyfriend, which is I, I don't believe Dan acted

necessarily inappropriately based on what he said to her, right? Using Dan's words, because at

first, when he was walking out, and this might also jump ahead a little bit, but I feel like we can loop

back into like the shoving chuck and stuff like that. Because like, because for one, by the time

Dan leaves, like Dan is a little bit surprised to hear it, right? Like, oh, you did that? Like, yeah,

maybe I can see that, right? Especially you're a high school kid. Like, there is more of that

element. There is more of that, you know, but the flip side of that is that that wasn't the thing that

sent Dan away, right? Like, there was the conflict with Chuck, there was Chuck sitting there at Egnum

on talking about his sister, you know, it was Blair talking about his Pat cabbage patch kid. It was

Nate, who if I remember correctly, wasn't really getting involved or you skip it ahead. So we'll,

yes, we'll circle back to that. So we get Dan is looking for Serena outside and over here is Lily

Bar talking about some kind of relationship. I skipped that. Yes. Yes. And it was and it was her

being like, no, I want to be with you, but I want to be with you in public. And but only you, but only you

and you need to cut it off with all of your little jewelry girls, shop girls, all your little shop

girls. He's like, Oh, it takes time. She's like, they're 23, all they have is time. Like, I don't

like Lily's parenting, but she is quick, you know, like, she's sharp. Like, she's ready for another

marriage. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. She's not looking to just fuck around. Yeah. And Dan overhears this.

And her fucking reaction is just like, I don't like you snooping like, lady, I walked out into a public

space. Well, I am just like starts like, Oh, I don't need Serena hearing this hearing you what I'm not,

I'm not. He's ready to play right along. Yeah. Yeah. He wants no part of it. Yeah. And that's like

that first real indication of like, I don't want to be in, in this world, which, you know, leads to

where I was going later, but we'll get, you know, so after that, we get Dan back inside and he's

confronted by Blair and Serena and Chuck inserts himself and everything comes out. The scene ends

with Dan pushing Chuck into a waiter and storming off. And we get the great line from a gossip girl.

Some might call this a fuster clock. A fuster clock. Yeah, I that was good. That was that was

nice. Well done. Well done, Kristen Bell. And I also want to call out Layton Meester is acting in

this. She is so excited when she sees Dad. She's like, anything ready to give drop the gossip.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Fantastic. Yeah. Like, like eager. Yeah. Completely. Yeah. I love that.

And then we see Serena chasing Dan outside the hotel and she catches him and they discuss their

relationship, but then part ways. And it's this relationship already over. Yeah. Well, and and I

want to go back to Dan leaving there and like, you know, it wasn't he gets this info bomb dropped on

him, which could easily have turned into a, hey, can we go somewhere and talk about this? And his

reaction wasn't great. His initial reaction wasn't great, but like he was dry. He a bomb was

dropped on a high school kid. And he reacted. But that wasn't what led to him storming off. It was,

you know, Blair with the cabbage batch kid. It was Nate was just like, trying to simmer things down,

if I remember correctly, Nate was not really active in it. And Nate has been neutral, I feel

throughout everything so far as far as Dan is concerned. Yeah. I mean, Nate clearly, I think it

does not like confrontation. Yes, he's he's a go with the flow. He's a stoner. He just he was he

doesn't want to get into any big argument. Yeah. 100%. And then you have, yeah. And so Dan has all of

this going on. And you have this guy who tried to assault your sister the night before talking in

your ear about your sister. Yeah, you're gonna shove them. And Dan didn't want to be at that

brunch. Dan doesn't want to be a part of that. And when he left and Blair chased or Serena chased him

out, his response, what wasn't you slept with someone with that guy? It was, you're a part of this

world and I don't want to be. You know, and that's fair. Yeah. You know, I don't want to be caught up in

these brunches. And like I and think about it, Dan sat there and saw she has no power over Lily to say no

to go to these things. So if he's going to be with her, it's going to be I have to go do this shit or I

have to know that you're going and being involved in all of it. So yes, Dan is definitely seeing this

up close for the first time. But it seems like he shouldn't know this because he's been basically

stalking Serena for two years and he goes to school with all these people. So yeah, it's just kind of

weird. But I don't know. But at well, at the same time, there was there was a woman who lived two

doors down from me in college. And I first met her, we were in a PE class together. And she was

gorgeous. And I hardly ever spoke to her at all. But from afar, I just thought that she was gorgeous.

And every time I'd like I would see her and smile and wave and stuff. But there was never any like

conversation, right? And, you know, I had this crush from afar and eventually met her

eventually, like she knew me by name, but we never became friends or anything like that, right? My

point being like, I don't know the intricacies of she was a disorder and I was in a fraternity, right?

And that's how we ended up eventually becoming friends, because we would be in the same place at

the same time for stuff. But I still never knew the intricacies of anything that was going on in her

life, or any of that stuff. I knew the general gossip of Greek life that was going on another show

that I was watching, Greek. That's it. Yep, seen it. But, you know, and I knew there was drama

because there was all over the place, but I didn't necessarily, if I would have gotten drawn into her

world, I don't know what I would have seen then. I don't know what it would have looked like up close,

you know? Well, I think we're gonna take our second break and we'll be right back. All right. And we are

back for the epilogue. Dan is sitting alone at the Loth when Jenny and Rufus get home. Dan tells Jenny

not to trust their classmates. Yeah. And once again, Dan isn't pinpointing any one of them. Dan

is saying that whole situation is toxic, which I now remember the earlier point that I had about

that interaction between Blair and Jenny. And it's when Blair said, are you friends with Serena?

And she's like, I have no reason not to be. But if someone else has a reason not to be, well, I have no

problem with that either. Yeah. That was Jenny playing the game. She, yeah. Jenny, Jenny is,

Jenny at this point is looking like Bobby Fisher with their prodigy with these guys. Yeah. Yeah,

exactly. Like, impressive. Like, because that's such a great political move. And it's an honest

truth. True. Yeah. Like Jenny, part of Jenny's charm is her sincerity. You know, and I, you know

that Dan is really worried about her losing that in this group of people that Dan is seeing as very one

dimensional. And then we see a scene of Blair and Nate lying in bed. Obviously, he decided to stick

it out, but clearly neither of them are happy. Yeah. Just very cold. Yeah. It's like Nate's what

the one big punishment Nate is really receiving is that he is still in a relationship that he doesn't

want to be in. When he thought he was playing, like he thought he was playing his outcar. Yeah. You

know, he thought he thought he was pulling the ripcord. And when he, and this shoot didn't open,

you know, and so, and so he's like, well, here, here I am. And of course, how does Blair feel about that?

But Blair is also like, well, this is the power dynamic. And this is, and I'm definitely not

letting Serena have him. Like, yeah, like, fuck that. And then we get Believe by Bravery plays as a

gossip girl monologues over a montage. Dan sitting alone on the fire escape. Little Jay

trying on her new dress. Chuck icing his eye with one of the living sculptures. Serena is walking

down the street to strut. First, she deletes all her photos, and then proceeds to just throw her

phone away. Um, uh, have you ever just thrown your phone away like that first? Yeah. Well, you know, I

had that reaction, but then I also thought, we in the life of excess that they're leaving, like, I'm

just good, you know, I'm gonna, and also, it was 07. So our lives weren't entirely our phones yet.

Granted, hers is more her phone than the average person at that point. Like, iPhones came out that

later that year, right? iPhones came out, I believe, that summer. Possibly. I forget what

year they first came out. Oh, wait, iPhone adopter. It was 07 because I've never had one, but

like, I was like, oh, what are these, you know, you know, I don't want a smartphone and I want my dumb

phone. And yeah, I, I know it was 07 because it was year my daughter was born. Yeah. Yeah. And she was

born in March. And I remember like the hype for the release, hearing about it in the summer leading up

to, to the release. And I did have an iPod at the time. Yeah. I did have one as well. And but that is

our episode. Oh, I did want to bring up Chuck is icing his eye. Like you got hit yesterday. What is,

what is it doing for you now? Like, like, why didn't you ice it when you got home? Like it's, the

swelling has already gone down. Like, why, why are you icing your yesterday? Well, I guess the Chuck

never learns. Yeah. Yeah. Well, anyways, let's go ahead and get into some segments. First of all, we

got episode grades. You went first last week. So I will go first this week. I am going to knock this one

down slightly. It was a very good episode, especially with the, the third act, the

culmination at the end was classic gossip girl. I loved the director got in like very close shots and

like jumping around that that's just like the strength and gas girl like quick cuts, you know,

close, close up on all the faces and quick witty dialogue. That good transitions. Yeah. That was

like the strength of that's, that's got girls like bread and butter there as this will come to see. But

I will knock it down slightly because of that weird recap at the beginning and also that little teaser

thing between acts. So I'm just going to knock this one down to an A minus. Yeah, I would, I would also

kind of think that this I, I, I liked this episode a lot. I liked that a lot came out of it. Like I liked

that a lot. The exposition was done and now we were on to like real the like getting through the

conflict and getting on with the conflict. And I really liked that. And so I would, but again,

because of those points of the, the weird, the weird cuts in the beginning, I'd also probably

give this one an A minus as well. I thought that this was a little bit more developed than the pilot. But

again, like I said last week, for a pilot, it was May, but for an overall show, you know, but I

thought yes, moves things along. I also have the advantage that I'm creating this on a gossip girl

screen scale curve. So I know we got a long ways to go down here. Yeah. And for, and also for me, like it's

a, I, I need to be a different differentiated between what's really good and what's going to be

not so good. And me as a teacher, I always have the built in thought of there always has to be

something better. So there's always room for growth. So like, I tend to start a little harsh and,

and, and, and, and, and I mean, I do that in my teaching and I do that in a way that is very like

loving towards my students. And it's very much about like, yeah, you can, you, this is great. But

like, if we were done here, then what are we doing? Then why are you coming to me? Like you, your whole

reason for being in my classroom is to be better at this. So here's where you can be better. And so

that's like a very big teacher thing in me that I always room for something to be better,

especially early on. And then we are moving on to stock watch. Not too many people moving up this

episode. Really only for me is Jenny. She's the only one that moved up in this episode. Yeah. Yeah.

Jenny stock, Jenny stock definitely went up. I would, I would completely agree on that. And then

put a lot of people went down. Nate and Blair both continue to go down for me. And then also, I mean,

Chuck was kind of neutral in this episode. Most of the stuff that he did bad was more just stuff that

was being said about and that happened in the past. But Dan Serena both down this episode as well. They

apparently have broken up and things are not going to work out. Yeah, yeah, I would, I would have

largely agree with that. I would agree that I would agree that Dan and Serena's stock both went down. I

think that Blair and Nate kind of stayed even in that like skating a thin line kind of way that the

stock can do. Because I feel like Blair dipped in the episode of times, I think that she came up at

times. And by the end of the episode, I feel like she kind of broke even Nate, his stock went down. I

mean, he, he caved to his dad. He's caving to Blair. He got caught trying to talk with Serena, you know,

like, you know, Nate's stock went down. And also, I'm going to say that for me, Chuck's stock

continues to plummet. Because in much the same way, like, even though it's stuff that's said

about him on the outside, those things hurt stock, you know, industry rumors can can really hurt

stock. And everything I hear about just makes his stock drop more fair. All right. Best outfit. I

hate to say it. Chuck, that that suit. I loved it. Yeah, the white with the all straight pin straight

suit, and the pink, the two shades of pink pinstripe shirt, got the little kerchief with the

like the rosewood colored like designs on it. And then the white, I believe crocodile skin loafers.

The suits fly. Like, but you know, flies look good on shit. So like, yeah, yeah, this the suit's

great. Like, I love it. For me, for me, I loved the Blair at the brunch, the like sort of classic, like

almost doily kind of thing. Like, but like, again, it's again, Blair dresses for power, right? Like

Blair has a very feminine power aesthetic to her, which, which, you know, it, it's another going

back to the scene where she gives the dress to Jenny, you know, that she was trying on. She, you

know, she did not pick that dress. She has a very intentional look for the situations she puts

herself in. And so yeah, I loved that, that outfit. The other one where I find that her outfits for the

parties, her power outfits are always great. Serena's casual outfits are the ones that I always

like on her. But because it's just like, they're not too flashy, but they just kind of hit. Also

honorable mention to Jenny's sweater. She had like a cool like that pink like it sweater. Like

that's really, that was a really nice touch to that outfit too. Yeah. Yeah. I'm guessing Rufus took

her shopping as some like retro store to get that. Yeah, yeah, exactly. The other thing, do you think

Blair and Shook's outfits were kind of matching a little bit? You know, I they're standing next to

each other. Yeah, I never put that together, but like, yeah, they did, they could kind of go

together. I do see it now that you're not the invention at. All right, well, that does it for the

segments. Do you have anything you want to upload this week? Well, I'll start by letting everyone

know that you can follow us on Instagram and TikTok at non judging breakfast pod. And on social media,

formerly known as Twitter, at NJB pod, where the non judging breakfast pod on Facebook. Also, if

you like the show, we would really appreciate it if you would leave us a review on Spotify, Apple or

whatever you get your podcast, it really helps with the discoverability. Yeah, I'll also

mention that as per my request of my kids, I will be releasing my first Christmas album tentatively

titled Weed Wizard Christmas sometime in early to mid December. It might be more of an EP, but

something's getting recorded and released. I will make sure to post that on socials when it

drops. If you want to come check me out on Twitch, I stream JRPGs on Monday nights and Wednesday

nights, we do story story based games and then Fridays are last of us factions. That's from eight

o'clock until 11 o'clock Eastern time Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Twitch.tv slash hot slash hot

Capricolo. You can also find me on Cannabas at the Weed Wizard and I do a morning metal show most days,

so you can catch me there too. I think that's about it. Thanks for stopping by. See you later.